1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tournament style blackjack and casino style blackjack.
2. Background of the Art
Tournament play in casino table card games and other wagering card games has grown exponentially in recent years. Events are regularly televised and players enter major tournaments from all over the world. Top prizes in some of the more prestigious poker tournaments are presently multimillion US dollar prizes.
Blackjack tournaments have not the prize levels or interest of poker, primarily because blackjack tournament results are more a reflection of luck of the draw and seat location rather than skill and cunning like poker. Also with poker a player can improve skills by playing in cash games, online and at casinos. With blackjack however, playing regular blackjack in a casino doesn't help a player improve skills needed for a traditional blackjack tournament. Thus with no learning process to motivate a player to pursue perfecting results in blackjack tournaments, most players only play in free casino sponsored or $50 entry fee events with blackjack.
Most blackjack tournaments utilize six deck shoes and between six to eight players per table. Each and every player in the tournament begins with a certain and equal “chip count.” These are called tournament chips, and in many but not all tournaments, they have no genuine monetary value in the remainder of the casino. Players usually pay an entry fee with the prize money accumulated from the fees and distributed on a format that rewards the winner with a largest percentage of total purse at a cutoff point (usually requiring a specific number of hands at each table for each round of play). Lower amounts of the prize money are paid to lower ranking finishers with a cutoff on the rank of finisher depending on the initial set-up of the game and the desired levels of payout awards to the ranked players.
The play at each table in the tournament usually begins with the dealer placing a white button (dealer button) in front of the player randomly selected to place the first bet on the first hand at the table. This is done because there can be some strategic advantage in placing later or the last bet in each round. The button rotates throughout the rounds so that all players will have similar statistical distributions of overall start and play positions. After all players have placed bets, the play commences with cards being dealt in a conventional manner and each player receives two starting cards as in traditional casino table play for blackjack, and one of the dealer's two cards is turned face up. Hit, stand, split, insurance and double down decisions are signaled to the dealer player by player until all have finished each round of card play by the players. The dealer finally flips over the dealer hole card and takes hits according to standard blackjack rules—stand on a hard 17 and continue to take hits until at least a hard 17 point count is reached. Chips are wagered and awarded by each player and each player, in turn, executes options on the play of the hand. After completion of a round of play and resolution of all wagers, the dealer slides “dealer button” to players left and the whole process repeats. Most tournaments have 20 to 30 hands dealt per round. At which time, a winner is declared (one with the most chips). At predetermined times, after hand 10, 20 or before the last hand is dealt for example, the dealer will count down everyone's individual chip total so that players will know where they stand. As the hands wind down, the play becomes very erratic and extreme. The reason is simple—people behind (chip count) must increase quickly or face elimination. Thus, the last five hands of most tournaments, people will double down on a blackjack, double down on 15's, etc. if they think it will help them win. Another strategy is how much to bet, based on how much a competitor bet and overall chip count. One or two key hands near the very end of the round usually determines tournament results. Successful tournament players must conserve their chip stack and play relative to others by betting low at the beginning of the round and hope others get unlucky and lose hands when they bet large amounts. They can then adjust bets based on their relative success throughout the 20 to 30 hand round.
Most accomplished and seasoned blackjack players understand that tournament formats as described above don't accurately test one's blackjack playing skills but are more of a crap shoot at the end of the round. Thus, the majority of the time the champion isn't the best blackjack player at the table, but usually the luckiest. He probably got a twenty at just the right time when is nearest chip rival busted out on a 16. These tournaments are very exciting as the tension mounts at the end (last few hands) but in no way is the overall winner the best blackjack player.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,592 (Virzi) describes a pyramid tournament in which every hour, two hundred players who pay a five dollar entry fee into a pool receive a known number of chips that are at risk during forty five minutes of play in an entry level game of a tournament. Of money in the pool, four hundred fifty dollars is paid into a pyramid fund, four hundred fifty dollars is paid to a winner of the entry level game, and one hundred dollars is paid to a tournament host. At the end of each week of a four week interval, there are 168 entry level game winners who have an opportunity to compete in a second level game of the tournament. At the end of each four weeks of a forty eight week interval, there are four second level game winners who have an opportunity to compete in a third level game. Winners of the second and third level games receive payouts from the pyramid fund. Winners of the third level games compete in a championship game of the tournament for all remaining money in the pyramid fund.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,675 (Handelman et al.) describes a blackjack game in which a set of first two cards of the “Player's” hand are dealt face up as a community hand and placed at a community hand location. The dealer also deals two cards to himself comprising one card face up and one card face down and placed at a dealer's hand location. Then the first two cards forming the community hand automatically receive hits until the numerical count of the community hand is at least 12. Other numerical counts can be used such as 9, 10 or 11. Each player then individually chooses to “Hit” or “Stand” on the community hand. The dealer then plays his two cards and winners and losers are determined in the conventional manner. In an alternative variation, the initial deal comprises one card to the dealer and one “Community Card”. Then each player gets one card for his hand and the dealer receives a card for the dealer's hand. The single “Community Card” is shared by both the dealer and each player giving the dealer and each player a two card hand. The first two cards forming each player's hand automatically receive hits until the numerical count of each player's hand is at least 12. Other numerical counts can be used such as 9, 10 or 11. Each player then individually chooses to “Hit” or “Stand” on the community hand. The dealer plays his two cards (the first dealer's card and the “Community Card”) and winners and losers are determined in the conventional manner.
Internet based tournament play is also generally described in numerous US patents such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,712,702; 6,264,560; 6,183,366; and 5,823,879.
It is desirable to set up a format of play with technical changes in blackjack play to give it a better opportunity to be well received as a competition of skill rather than just luck, as it often appears to be in conventional play. This will increase interest in conducting tournaments where players will be motivated to pay large entry fees similar to poker's World Series of Poker.